"Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet." Plato

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Chapter Six

Nate was a fool. A stupid, ignorant fool. How could he have thought that after such a prolonged absence there could be any residual attachment? He must've been absolutely delusional to think that he could return and that she would be swept off her feet by his mere presence.

Just as soon as her fiancé had arrived, she'd left his side as she'd rather Mr Mornington's arms around her. Nate's first impression of him was that he was a scrawny twit. He was not completely devoid of good looks, but he looked to be as old, if not younger than Charlotte. No more than twenty years old. Of course Nate's thirty years would seem old to him.

"Daddy, I can walk," Maggie complained.

In his utter humiliation at seeing Charlotte and Eric embrace, he'd scooped Maggie up as he wanted to leave Ascot immediately.

He didn't release Maggie until his driver had brought the carriage around. He didn't want to risk her wandering off and delaying their departure. Once inside the carriage, he let her go and she sat on the seat opposite him.

Maggie stared at him curiously and cocked her head. "Who was that man that Lady Charlotte was with?" she asked.

Nate didn't answer. He voiced the word 'fiancé' in his head with such distaste, if it came out of his mouth it would most definitely be with a sneer. "Are you tired of England?" he asked instead. Frowning darkly, he continued. "I am. I will organise for us to leave immediately upon our return. Perhaps we'll travel east, this time. We shall go to France and then continue on through the German Empire and perhaps on to Russia. I've heard wondrous things about the Imperial palaces there. We shall have to peruse a language book or two ..." he babbled until Maggie interrupted him.

"Hold on a minute," she said, holding her hand up. "I ain't going anywhere," she said firmly.

"'Ain't' is not a word," Nate murmured.

"I don't care if 'ain't' ain't a word. I ain't going anywhere. We just got here!" she protested impatiently.

"AndI say we're leaving!" Nate countered in the same tone. He could not believe he was having such a disagreement with a seven-year-old. They both were glaring at each other. It didn't help that Maggie's adorableness was one of her strengths.

"You go hide all you want. I'm staying right here." She folded her arms across her chest and slouched in her chair.

"Excuse me?" Nate scoffed.

"You heard me," she muttered, staring at her hands in her lap.

"Mind your attitude, young lady," Nate said sharply. "I won't tolerate any rudeness." He would let her get away with almost anything, but he wouldn't allow her to be rude.

Maggie begrudgingly looked back to him, her pale green eyes glassy. "I ain't never had a home. Not a real one," she said tearfully. "Momma always moved me from Charlotte to Raleigh and back to Charlotte whenever she got singing jobs. Then you came and we went to Boston but it still wasn't home. I got a home now. Please don't make me go," she begged.

Looking into the all-knowing yet still innocent eyes of his child before him, he knew she was right. To leave would be to hide, and he was no coward. Charlotte was just a person. There were several other people in that house that mattered to him as well. No more than the person sitting in front of him. "Alright," he agreed. "We'll stay."

That brought a smile to her face and she instantly climbed atop his lap and hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear. "I'm sorry for being rude," she added.

"No matter," he dismissed. "The man was Lady Charlotte's ..." He couldn't say the word. "Betrothed," he decided on, the word still leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "They're to marry."

Maggie looked completely shocked. "I don't understand ... I thought you —"

"No," he interrupted. "It was foolish to think so. I don't know why I'm telling you this. You're much too young."

Maggie pouted. "That never stopped you before. Weren't you the one who said we were a team?"

She had him there.

"You want to hear something interesting?" she asked him, settling herself on his lap.

"Of course," he agreed.

"One time a couple of years ago, I think I was five maybe, Momma got a job by the beach. She was singing during the day so I played in the sand until she was finished. I was walking down the beach and I found some kids like me up on the hill. They were surrounding a pond and in the pond was a white bird, a pelican. I saw what they were cheering, and it was that the pelican had a frog in its mouth. I was shocked that they were happy that a pelican was eating a frog until I saw what the frog was doing. It was fighting, Daddy. The frog was hanging from that pelican's beak and pushing its back legs against his neck. He didn't stop and go — 'Well, I guess I'm dinner now' — no. He didn't give up, Daddy. Five minutes later the pelican dropped him and we all cheered. The frog hopped away and the pelican flew off. No matter how big the pelican, you fight and fight until he drops you."

Nate smiled coyly. "So, you're saying I shouldn't give up, then?"

Maggie smiled innocently. "I was just telling you a great story." She shrugged.

Nate chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "You're too clever for your own good."

"Just smart, Daddy. Real smart," she said with a satisfied smile on her face.

Running away was just what he'd done two years earlier. He'd run because he couldn't stand to be close to Charlotte without having her. He didn't stay to prove his worth to Emmett. How could he if he was thousands of miles away?

Now he would stay. He would fight. Because regardless of everything, regardless of Emmett and Charlotte's fiancé, he knew she was right for him. She had made him want to become the best version of himself possible. Before he'd fallen for her, he'd had an endless parade of women. But in two years he hadn't touched one. Because none compared to her.

***

Maggie sat on Nate's lap in the library as she read 'The Sleeping Beauty'to him. "At last he came to the room where the sleeping Princess lay," Maggie read, sometimes stumbling on a few words before figuring them out herself. "'Oh, how beautiful you are!' he whispered, and he bent down and he gently kissed her." At this, Maggie giggled and blushed. "At the touch of his lips, the Princess opened her eyes and held out her arms. 'You have been so long in coming,' she murmured. The castle came to life as the two embraced. Dogs barked; cats miaowed; pigeons cooed; the chef finished tasting his soup; and the scullery maid went about her business with the mop. What happiness there was that day inside the castle! Prince Charming married his Sleeping Beauty in the castle chapel —and he alone knew that her wedding gown was at least one hundred years out of fashion. But never a word did he say to spoil the wonderful moment." Maggie closed the book and smiled. "I like that story."

"Me too," Nate agreed.

"You know what I don't understand."

"What?"

"Why does she wake up when Prince Charming kisses her? Does he have medicine on his lips?" she asked curiously.

Only Maggie would try and rationalise a fairy tale. "It's true love's kiss, Maggie. It's magic." Would that not be an explanation to satisfy a child?

"Why does she marry him right away though? His name is Prince Charming but he calls her Sleeping Beauty. That's not her name. Shouldn't he know her name?" she continued to press.

Couldn't she just be happy with a fantasy like most little girls? Again, Maggie was terribly unique. "I suppose they married right away because they knew they'd be happy with no other. If you know that you love a person then delaying your lives together is pointless." He trailed off, his thoughts travelling to Charlotte in the arms of Eric. It angered him more than anything. He wasn't angry at her. He was angry at himself for letting her go.

"But he doesn't know her name!" Maggie insisted.

"It's a secret just between them," Nate told her. "But don't you marry the first man who ever tries to kiss you. I won't allow it. In fact, you shall report him to me where he shall have a direct meeting with my fist." He then realised he sounded exactly like Emmett had when he'd been warning Nate away from Charlotte. Perhaps he understood. He'd interrogate any suitor to his breaking point before he allowed Maggie to leave the safety of the four walls of Montrose.

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door of the library and it was opened soon after, not waiting for him to grant the visitor entry. Bess stormed into the library with an angry look on her face. She was wearing a plain, lavender gown with a matching travelling cloak and she wore her wavy blonde hair down, hanging to her waist.

She paused a moment when she saw Maggie on Nate's lap but she still continued to look utterly irritated. "I was in correspondence with a thirty-piece orchestra from Vienna. I was drawing impossible plans and sending them to a patisserie specialising in cakes in Paris. I'd ordered chocolate especially from Spain for the reception and I'd selected a piglet not a month ago to be raised for the meal." She spoke calmly but she looked as though she was about to slaughter him.

"I've not ruined your perfect wedding, Bessie. She's still engaged if you hadn't noticed," he informed her. She'd still get her precious orchestra. "I'd thought you were on my side."

Bess' hazel brown eyes flared. "I am!" she exclaimed. "I don't give a hoot about this wedding! That's why I've ordered all these frivolous things. I was stalling her so that you could come home and stop it all. Now she's realised what I've been doing and she plans to just do it at the church in the next few weeks. You are the one who has not fulfilled your end of the bargain. What have you done? Shared a few sentences during a cricket match and sliced open her corset! Where's the romance? Where's the grandeur? Why are you not tossing stones up at her window and confessing your love?"

Clearly Bess had been reading one too many Shakespearean sonnets. "Maggie, go and change for the evening, would you?" he asked, wanting Maggie to leave the room.

Maggie reluctantly climbed off of his lap and exited the library slowly, wanting to catch a little more of the conversation before she was out of earshot.

"I haven't done anything because she's still upset with me. And just as we were able to share a laugh, her fiancé arrives and she jumps into his arms. I don't want to give up on her, Bess. But I just don't know what to do."

Bess' face softened a little as she placed her hands on her hips. "All I know for certain is that whatever Charlotte and Eric share, it doesn't hold a candle to the connection that the two of you had. They're good friends, and he is a sweet boy. But she's settling because she doesn't want to reopen old wounds. You have to scratch at those wounds, Nate. You have to pull them open and let her feel what I know is in there somewhere."

"Toss stones at her window?" He raised his eyebrows. He had to start somewhere, and that could be quite romantic.

"Exactly." She nodded once. "And could you hurry it up? I'd like not to look rotund at your wedding." She placed her hands on her stomach and grinned.

Nate gasped with surprise and immediately crossed the room to give Bess a hug. "Congratulations! I was beginning to think that my old friend didn't have it in him!"

Bess giggled and slapped Nate playfully. "Quiet, you," she commanded comically. "It's early but it's there. The doctor came last week. It's about time if you ask me. I've wanted my Alexandra for years."

"How do you know it's a girl?" he asked.

"A mother always knows," Bess said mysteriously. She smirked. "Wishful thinking," she clarified.

"I'm truly happy for you both," he said sincerely.

"Thank you," Bess replied gratefully. She placed her hand softly on Nate's cheek. "She still loves you. I know she does. She's just ... forgotten." Bess stood up on her toes and kissed Nate on the cheek. "I'm glad you're home. I've missed you!" she said in a more upbeat tone. "It's not been the same without you."

"I've missed you, too. All of you. The time away didn't change anything, but it did bring me to Maggie Wheeler, and I wouldn't trade her for anything."

Bess smiled tenderly. "She's a good girl. A sweet girl. Can I ask about her parents?" she said carefully. "You mentioned her mother was a singer."

"Correct. I met her my first night in Charlotte. I was drowning my sorrows and she came over to me and leant me an ear. We were friends. We were never intimate. I haven't been ..." He didn't really want to discuss such things with Bess.

"I understand," she cut in. "Do you know who Maggie's father was?"

"Caroline said he came from a wealthy family in Georgia. A plantation family. She'd thought he would marry her but she wasn't a suitable bride for someone like him. A mixed breed, is what Caroline told me they'd called her. Caroline's mother was Spanish and her father was a white American. That's why Maggie's skin is the tone it is. So Caroline was sent away to have her child out of wedlock and she never heard from Maggie's father again. Caroline was a good person and she didn't deserve the prejudice she received, both from the jeers regarding her unmarried status and the fact that she was only half American." Maggie had inherited her appearance from her father, as Caroline's hair was ebony and her eyes were dark brown.

"What a horrible man," Bess said with disgust. "Though I suppose that happens all too often. Poor Caroline. She never did win, did she?"

"Caroline never had a lot of money, nor did she ever have permanent lodgings, but she had all she needed. Maggie never wanted for anything. Wherever the man is, he's missing out on a wonderful little lady." Nate smiled proudly.

"Will you tell her this?" Bess asked.

"If she asks," he replied. He didn't want Maggie to think she was unwanted. "Did you want to stay for dinner?"

Bess looked to the grandfather clock ticking away in between two large windows in the library. It was nearing half past five in the afternoon. "I won't tonight," she told him. "I'll need to put Davy to bed soon. But don't forget to come tonight. We'll retire early. You remember which is Charlotte's bedroom, don't you?"

Nate did. He'd seen her in the window several times growing up when he and Emmett had been playing on the green. "I do," he replied. "I also wanted to thank you for having that food prepared today. The American cuisine was truly very thoughtful of you."

Bess smiled coyly. "It wasn't my idea. It was Charlotte's."

***

By eight o'clock, Maggie had been fed and bathed by a maid, and was safely tucked up in bed asleep. That was when Nate had ordered a horse be brought to him from the stables.

A grey mare was led around the side of his house all saddled and ready for him. Nate climbed atop her and the stable hand adjusted the stirrups to suit his height. Once he was ready, he kicked his heels and the mare took off, cantering down the road that led to his gate.

It was lucky he knew the roads so well as darkness had set in. He was almost directing the horse through memory rather than sight. He could see far enough ahead as not to collide with any obstacles but in the distance he was blind.

This was such a childish thing he was doing. Schoolboys threw pebbles at the windows of their loves, not grown men. He hoped he didn't make a fool of himself, as he already had. He hoped that Charlotte would speak to him.

Nate didn't know how long it had taken him to ride to Ascot but the mare had begun to pant when the great house was in sight. He'd ridden her fairly hard and hadn't slowed down to a walk at all.

The iron gates were shut, locked even, as he'd inspected them. Just perfect. He rode around the side of the house where the gates ended as the thick forest begun. It was impossible for one to slip through the tiny gap. It appeared as though he'd have to climb the tall wall or iron fence.

He tied his horse to the gate, allowing enough slack in the reins so that she could reach the grass and eat if she wished.

With his arms fully extended above his head, he could reach the top of the fence. Gripping it as best as he could, he used all his strength to lift his body up towards the top. "Argh!" he grunted, as he failed to move more than a few feet off the ground for two seconds.

Then he had an idea. He climbed atop his mare and then proceeded to stand on top of her back, balancing by using the bars of the fence to steady him. "Good girl," he said quietly, trying to keep the mare calm. If she bucked, he'd be in trouble.

As cautiously as he could muster, he swung his right leg over the top of the fence and winced when his weight shifted and he felt the pressure on his groin. That proved how much Charlotte meant to him.

When he swung his other leg over the fence, he promptly fell off of it and a bushy shrub broke his fall. His weight had broken several of the soft branches and when he stood up stiffly, it was clear a man had fallen on top of it. He did his best to fluff up the bush but it was no use.

Nate walked swiftly yet stiffly across the green towards Ascot House. He couldn't see any of the windows illuminated so he assumed that the house had retired. He foraged around on the ground, searching for small rocks and pebbles and found a handful. He found Charlotte's window and promptly threw one of the small rocks at it.

Instead of making a soft noise, the rock went straight through the window, shattering the glass.

"For the love of God!" he exclaimed. Why? Why did that have to happen? He wanted to get her attention, not scare her to death.

A few minutes later, Charlotte timidly appeared at her window, inspecting the damage with a candle and saucer.

"Charlotte!" he called out.

She then noticed him standing below. She wore her dark hair in a braid over her shoulder and a white nightgown. She quickly unlatched her window and opened it out into the cool night air. "Nate?" She gasped. "What are you doing? You broke my window!"

"I know, I'm sorry. But I had to speak with you," he replied, calling as quietly as was needed to keep his presence at Ascot a secret.

Charlotte bit her lip. "Alright," she agreed, nodding. "I'll be right down."